Revolution in Ukraine
What do you call what is happening in Kiev right now? Hundreds of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets to protest the government’s decision to pull back from closer ties with Europe in favour of closer ties with Russia. It is estimated that thousands of protestors are still “on the streets” of Kiev – camped out or sleeping in churches or public buildings that they have taken over.
I know of a couple of people who have gone to join the protestors. The going “wage” is from $20-30 a day… it depends on who you “join up with” and if you want the money. Amazing country, yeah? I was talking with a local businessman today who said that he will be going in tomorrow, (Sunday). The hope is that 1,000,000 people will turn out. The other hope is that Yanukovich, the president, will resign… but this hope is generally held to be wildly optimistic. I think that most people taking part don’t really expect anything to change.
Russia has had a lot of influence over Ukraine throughout her history. During the last 20 years, I’ve seen Ukraine waver between sidling up to Russia one day, only to run to Europe the next. There are certainly a lot of people here who haven’t forgotten Russia’s repression of Ukrainians during the last 100 years in particular. It doesn’t help the situation that Russia is struggling economically while the Eastern European countries have seen enormous growth during the last 10 years.
Much has been made of a decision by the riot police to retaliate last Saturday against a group who were protesting. Strangely enough, a number of journalists were also made to suffer. (Someone forgot to teach that the media has long sharp teeth when attacked!)
Because we tend to think in terms of Russia being the monster of the region, perhaps at first blush it would seem as if closer integration with Europe was the preferable route for Ukraine to travel. But thinking from the perspective of a God-lover, I’m not all that sure. Financial benefits aren’t the be-all-that-ends-all. Will Russia curtail freedoms such as freedom to share your faith publically? Probably not. Will Europe? Hmmm… maybe. How about attitudes towards homosexuality? Homosexual marriage? It’s hard to praise the moral standards of Russia and her leaders. But is Europe that much better? I think right now if I had to choose, Europe feels like the civilized choice. Russia is just a bit too unpredictable. But on that other hand, it wouldn’t surprise me to look back in 20 years and be thankful that we didn’t pursue European integration way “back in 2013”. (And with that statement, I reveal which way I expect this to play out.)
All goes well… It’s 11:30 Saturday night and we’ve had students here again tonight. I just heard snow hitting our windows and can look out and see a ground covered. When there was but 3mm of snow outside, my little girls were already making snow angels.
Nazar is staying with us tonight. Last night, a truck on his street closed the road as it slid back down the hill. The electricity in his home went off leaving them without heat as the driver knocked over a power pole. (The roads were incredibly slippery!!) Nazar is a good friend of Jesse and Mimi. Evidenced by all the noise, they’ve enjoyed the night. They called me up a bit ago. The pic below was what I saw while walking up the stairs.
